This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 94120811 filed in Taiwan on Jun. 22, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a computer network connection technology, and in particular to a system and method used for a computer having various network connection devices which is capable of automatically switching the network connections depending on the changes of its operation environments.
2. Related Art
With the rapid development and innovation of science and technology, the technology of computers has progressed tremendously. In addition, the network technology has also changed enormously. Due to the reduction of production costs of the network equipment, the overall selling prices declined drastically, as such the data transmission speed of network and its cost effectiveness has increased significantly. Most importantly, the network connection is no longer restricted to the wired network, thus various other alternatives are available for selection.
In the early stage of utilization, the network connection was conducted through conventional telephone lines and modems, with its maximum data transmission speed of only 56 k. Subsequently, the LAN (Local Area Network) was adopted and utilized, and its application has expanded from academic and research institutes to business and enterprises with its data transmission speed of up to 100 Mb/sec. However, in this respect, its application is limited to the internal activities of the enterprise, since the costs of severs and gateways used for connecting to Internet are too expensive for ordinary people. Hereafter, the ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) provided by the ISP (Internet Service Provider) was utilized to do the network connection through cables, so that the public could have the benefits of faster speed of data transmission on the network.
Similarly, in the preliminary stage of utilization, the mobile phone was used in voice communication, then with the development and introduction of the technology of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), which is based on a wireless division exchange technique of GSM system having advantages of always being on-line, high speed transmission, and easy switching, so as to realize the purpose and function of network connection at any place and any time. However, as in the early stage of network application, the data transmission speed of the mobile phone had left much to be desired.
In recent years, the WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) has become widely popular since it is capable of achieving a data transmission speed of a wired network without requiring a connection line. Presently, the wireless network connection capability has become a basic and standard specification of the computer for the various computer manufacturers, thus a wireless network connection capability has become the indispensable feature and function of the present day computer system, even though various problems in its application have yet to be solved.
From the above discussion it is known that, presently, network connection of a computer is not restricted to only one method. The computer may be provided with the equipment of wired network connection or wireless network connection. In particular concerning the notebook computer, the wireless network connection capability is indispensable to satisfy the moving office requirements of the user, which is dependent on various network connection environments, such as: network connection through a cable if the user is at home, network connection through an Ethernet Network if the user is in his office, network connection through ADSL if the user is at his customer's premises, or network connection through wireless LAN if the user is at the coffee shop or Mass Rapid Transit station (subway), or network connection even through the GPRS of a mobile phone if the user is on the Super Highway and has to transmit data urgently.
However, presently, the set values and connection method for various network connection modes are different, thus if the user is relocated to a different working environment, the parameter values of the network connection have to be reset. As such, the user has to keep and memorize a whole set of network connection setting parameter values for various working environments, which is very tedious and inconvenient for the user.